Read Tempered (A Daughters of the People Novel) (Daughters of the People Series) for Free Online

Hawthorne?” Aaron asked.
    Hawthorne opened
her mouth to give him an honest answer. He had asked, after all, and should he
not know the truth since they were building trust?
    Levi
interrupted. “Older than she looks.”
    Aaron’s gaze
drifted quickly over her unlined face and athletic build. His eyes lingered on
her midriff, bare between the bottom of her leather halter top and the
low-slung waistband of her leather pants. “How much older?”
    “You know how
you shouldn’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to?” Levi said. “This
is one of those times.”
    Aaron slumped back
into his seat, appearing dazed. Jason’s gaze bounced between him and Hawthorne.
    “I have to get
back to work.” Levi picked his tray up off the floor and dropped his voice to a
low mutter. “Behave, Nana. Remember how good this Con is for business and try
not to cut anyone’s head off, ok?”
    “You worry
unnecessarily.” Hawthorne gave him the customary farewell, touching her lips to
his mouth and forehead. “All will be well.”
    He shot her a
skeptical look as he left. She watched him for a moment, ascertaining his
safety before turning her attention back to Aaron.
    “Your food
chills, so I shall be brief.” She pulled a spare keycard out of her back pocket
and held it out. “I wished you to have this, should you desire to build trust
with me this evening.”
    A flush crept up
Aaron’s cheek under his tan. Jason raised an eyebrow at her. Even the
indomitable Jeanne looked puzzled.
    “Is ‘building
trust’ not a euphemism for sex?” Hawthorne asked.
    Aaron covered
his face with his hands and groaned.
    Jason snickered.
“That’s one way to put it. I wondered what you were up to last night.”
    “Cut it out,”
Aaron muttered. “She has trust issues, ok?”
    Hawthorne
dropped her hand and stepped away from the table. “I have embarrassed you in
front of your friends. My apologies.”
    She pivoted away,
ignoring the ping of hurt in her chest. Men. Rational talk failed and beheading
was frowned upon by her kin. What was a Daughter to do?
    Behind her,
Aaron scrambled from his chair. “Hawthorne, wait. I want to build trust with
you.”
    She peered at
him over her shoulder. “Truly?”
    “Honest.” He
came around the table and placed his warm hands on her shoulders, rubbing
gently. “I can come up around nine, if that’s ok.”
    She toyed with
his shirt, another button-down, this one a deep red and gold plaid. “I shall be
there.”
    “Yeah?” He
pressed a kiss to her forehead, then one to her mouth in a lingering kiss. “How’s
that?”
    “It is the other
way around,” she said gently.
    “I know. This
way, though, I get to kiss you as much as I want.”
    She cupped his
face in her hands, absorbing the smooth texture of his skin. “You please me,
Aaron Kesselman.”
    “You please me,
too.” His mouth brushed across hers twice more before he stepped back. “Maybe
I’ll see you around today.”
    “Perhaps.” She
slid the keycard into the front pocket of his denim trousers and ignored the satisfaction
she gained when Jeanne squawked. If Aaron’s ex-wife minded the intimacy, she
should have cared for him better, a mistake Hawthorne had no intention of
emulating. “Try to keep other women’s hands off of your person.”
    He grinned.
“I’ll do my best.”
    Hawthorne
observed him reseating himself, admiring the long legs and firm bottom encased
in worn jeans, then turned to leave. Her departure was interrupted by Jeanne’s
hissed question.
    “What are you
doing whoring around with that bitch?” Jeanne asked
    Dead silence
descended on the area around Aaron’s table. In two seconds flat, Hawthorne
reached it and grasped the top of the other woman’s chair, tilting it back at a
dangerously steep angle. She placed her face close to Jeanne’s pale one and
allowed the deadly intent in her own eyes to seep into her expression. When
Hawthorne was certain the woman understood, she shifted,